


I Don't Wanna Close My Eyes

by duri



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009 Era (Phandom), Alternate Universe, Barista!Phil, College Student Dan, Halloween, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of alcohol, Sleepy Dan Howell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27046147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duri/pseuds/duri
Summary: Dan is tired of the Halloween party he's been forced to attend. He wanders off, straight into a pretty little cafe with an even prettier barista.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	I Don't Wanna Close My Eyes

It’s half past four in the morning, and Dan is really fucking tired. He’s no stranger to all nighters, being cursed with the habit of procrastination, staying awake for more than three days in a row trying to cram for an important exam, but at least it was on his own terms.

But right now, Dan is standing rigid against the wall of some strangers apartment, clutching a half empty plastic cup of a ghastly tasting drink that his roommate Aaron had shoved in his hand a few hours ago and then promptly disappeared into the crowd. 

Dan hates Halloween parties with a passion. There’s a whole other layer of judgement there, the dressing up and whatnot and he has no energy to do anything other than wear some cat ears and draw some half assed whiskers on his face. 

The music is so loud. It’s giving Dan a major migraine, and he can’t even get drunk because he feels queasy already, like he’s been spinning and spinning in circles for hours and he’s only just stopped. 

Two people brush past him, kissing each other with a sort of disgusting vigour, the squelching sound turning his stomach. 

He has to get out of there.

Dan tosses his cup in a bin. As soon as he steps out of the building, the cool morning air washes over him, immediately dulling the pain in his head. He lets out a drawn out sigh of relief.

He really wants a cup of good green tea.

Dan strays away from campus. It’s dark outside, the streets relatively empty save for the lonesome stragglers, leaving their own Halloween parties. He might be a morning person, Dan muses as he steps over the cracks on the pavement, if his life wasn’t such a bloody mess and he could actually stick to a proper schedule and sleep at a normal time. 

He walks for a long time, he doesn’t know how long, but its still dark and he’s in an area he doesn’t completely recognise. He comes to a stop in front of a small but cozy looking cafe.

The chime jingles softly as Dan opens the door a bit hesitantly. He doesn’t see anyone. 

“Hello?” Dan calls quietly.

He stands there awkwardly for a minute and then he turns around, ready to leave when a loud crashing sound has him jumping ten feet in the air, letting out an embarrassingly high pitched scream.

“I’m so sorry!” 

Dan looks around for the source of the (very deep) voice but he sees none. He’s rooted in place, partially convinced that there’s a really clumsy poltergeist haunting the cafe. 

And then a curtain that Dan hadn’t noticed, behind the counter rustles and a young man, around Dan’s age stumbles out. 

“Oh!” He says, surprised. “You’re still here.”

“Should I leave?” Dan asks awkwardly. 

“No!” 

Dan jumps slightly, the man’s voice far too loud for the dead quiet of the morning.

He clears his throat and repeats a bit softer, “No, sorry. What can I get you?”

Dan shuffles closer to the counter, scanning the options. They’re all terrible puns, and he cringes at the thought of having to say them out loud. 

“Medium green tea, please.” He says, refusing to say ‘A Matcha Made in Heaven’. 

The barista offers him a small smile. “Alright, will that be all?”

Dan nods, his eyes sliding over to the name tag pinned to the baristas offensively bright pumpkin patterned jumper. 

Phil.

Phil is hot, Dan decides as he watches the barista make his tea. He’s got a sort of crooked nose which his glasses keep slipping onto and his black hair is effortlessly styled into a fringe, Dan would commit several murders for his hair to look like that. It’s so incredibly attractive, he thinks, watching Phil absentmindedly brush hair away from his eyes.

“Ok, that’ll be $1.75.” Phil says cheerfully, placing the mug on the counter. Dan quickly moves his gaze away from Phil’s hair. He can feel himself blushing. “Thank you.” He mumbles, placing the money on the counter and grabbing the mug. 

He ambles over to a table near the window with a perfect view of the counter where Phil is standing, leaned against the wall, fiddling with his phone. 

Dan takes a sip of his tea. It’s actually quite good. 

The silence stretches for another five minutes, and Dan is growing increasingly uncomfortable. He doesn’t know if its one sided and Phil is perfectly fine doing whatever he’s doing. 

“Fuck it,” he mumbles to himself. “Hi.” he says louder. 

Phil’s head snaps up. “Hi!” He parrots, smiling at Dan. It’s insanely adorable. 

“I’m Dan,” he says, a bit quieter. “What’s your name?” 

Phil’s smile doesn’t leave his face. “Phil.” 

Silence again. How the fuck is he supposed to carry a conversation with a complete stranger?

Dan fiddles with the handle of his mug. Does Phil not want to talk to him? What if he’s annoying him? Struck with another bout of stupid courage, he tries another question.

“So, do you live around here?”

He regrets it as soon as he’s said it. Is that a weird question? Does he come off as stalkery or serial killer like?

“Yeah, I’m close to here,” Phil answers, and he doesn’t sound creeped out to Dan’s relief. “What about you?”

“I’m at uni,” he says gesturing vaguely towards the windows, “I stay at the dorms.”

Phil breaks out into a larger grin. “At Manchester Uni? What course are you taking?”

Dan smiles back at him, a bit more subdued. “Law.”

Phil looks impressed, and he says as much. Dan laughs a little. “I’m balls at it. Thinking of dropping out, honestly.” 

Phil isn’t smiling anymore, but his eyes crinkle at the corners. “That’s alright. You should be doing what makes you happy.”

He huffs out a laugh, taking another sip of tea. If only it was that easy. 

Dan finishes the rest of his tea in silence, but its the comfortable kind. 

He’s about to walk over to the counter and hand his mug over and maybe ask the cute barista for his number, when a deafening crack of thunder, followed by lightning nearly shakes the cafe.

Dan nearly drops the mug, and Phil lets out a small squeak, clutching his phone to his chest. 

“Um..” Dan goes to say something, but he’s interrupted by the sudden downpour of rain, almost deafening compared to the peaceful quiet from just a few minutes ago.

“Fuck.”

Phil chuckles nervously. “Yeah.” 

Dan sets the mug down on the counter with a sigh. “Looks like I’m stuck here for a while.”

And then he looks at Phil, his smiling eyes and his wonderful hair, and he can’t even pretend to be upset.

It’s been half an hour, and they’re sat on two armchairs by the window. Not many words have been exchanged between the two, but Dan is already feeling an insane amount of affection for the black haired man, it’s quite concerning really. 

He worries his bottom lip with his teeth as he studies Phil’s face. He’s turned towards the window, watching the rain outside. His hair falls over his eyes with a soft kind of gracefulness and Dan wants to run his hands through it.

“So!” Dan cringes at how loud his voice is. Phil turns towards him. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to listen to some music?” He asks, bouncing his knee nervously. 

“Yeah!” Phil grins, the tip of his tongue poking through his teeth, and fuck if that doesn’t make Dan want him even more.

Dan smiles back and leans down to shuffle through his backpack and find his MP3 player and some earplugs.

He feels a soft tug on his hair, and he snaps his head up, coming face to face with a very sheepish looking Phil.

“I’m sorry!” Phil squawks, his face turning redder by the second. “You just had a curl, right there..”

Phil reaches over and gives one of his wayward curls another soft tug. 

Dan giggles a bit incredulously. “So you just decided to rip it out of my head?”

Phil’s smile drops, and he looks at his feet, his fingers rubbing together nervously. “I’m sorry, Dan, I-“

“Mate, I was joking.” Dan interrupts, giving him a soft smile. “You can touch my hair all you want, I really don’t mind.” 

Phil offers him a hesitant grin. He gestures towards Dan’s MP3 player. “What’re we listening to?”

Dan scrolls through his songs. “I was thinking Muse, maybe?” 

“Oh my god, I love Muse so much!” Phil says excitedly, trying to move the chair closer to Dan with his butt, but instead succeeds in toppling the chair sideways. 

Dan throws his head back, cackling. “Oh my god, Phil! What the fuck were you trying to do?”

Phil is sprawled on the ground, laughing too. “I tried to move the chair! I guess my ass isn’t powerful enough for that though.” He pouts a little, getting up and brushing off imaginary dust from his knees. 

Dan smirks. “I’m sure your ass is plenty powerful Phil, don’t worry about that.” He leers exaggeratedly at Phil’s butt as he bends over to pick up the chair, making the older man giggle even more, his face the colour of an overripe tomato.

“Alright,” Dan says once Phil is settled down, “What’s your favourite song?” He says this very solemnly, putting his playlist on shuffle and handing Phil a bud. Phil looks nervous at this. He takes the bud and thinks for a minute. “I really don’t know.” He says finally. “I love them all so much.”

“Fair enough.” Dan chuckles. “You know, if Origin of Symmetry was a physical thing that I could actually hold, I would probably rub it all over my nipples it’s just so wonderful.”

Phil is quiet for a second and Dan immediately regrets it. Why did he always put his foot in his mouth and say the weirdest fucking things?

But then Phil smirks a little. “I’ve probably got the CD around here somewhere.” He says, waggling his eyebrows. Dan bursts into laughter, and Phil joins in. “Thats fully weird, Phil.” He giggles. Phil looks at him incredulously. “Mate, you just said you wanted to rub music on your nipples, how am I the weird one?”

Dan shakes his head, laughing even harder. “You have no proof of that!”

Phil stops smiling and he leans forward, a serious expression on his face. “I actually do.” 

Dan blinks. “What?”

Phil nods solemnly. “Yeah. I was born with this mega rare condition. Everything I see gets recorded in my eyes, and I can store the memory,” he taps on the sides of his glasses, “here.” 

Dan stares at him for a second, and then he starts to giggle. “What the fuck, Phil.” He says, his face starting to hurt from how much he’s laughing. 

“I’m telling the truth!” Phil protests, but he’s laughing as hard as Dan.

Once they’ve calmed down, Dan lifts his MP3 player up. “Can we finally listen now without you telling me about another one of your superhero abilities?”

Phil grins at him and nods. “Play away, Dan.”

He presses the button and the opening chords of New Born start to play. 

Dan is sat on a boat, the small rowing kind, and he has two paddles resting by his feet. He’s floating along in a river, the current is slow and the air is cool. He takes the paddles and starts to move the boat, slowly. 

It’s beautiful here, in this forest of sorts. There are large trees surrounding the water, the soft cries of birds filling the air. 

The boat comes to a stop by a door. It’s large, wooden, looking like something straight out of a Hogwarts library. 

He gets up and tries to open it. 

“Dan.” The door says.

“How do you know my name?” Dan asks, mildly curious. He mostly just wants to know whats through the door.

“Dan, wake up!” 

That’s odd. Dan tries to push the door open again, but the door grabs his hand. “Wake up, Dan.”

Dan wakes up. He blinks a little, taking in his surroundings. He’s curled up on an overstuffed armchair, his head resting against something solid, and his hand is in the air, being held by something.

He blinks again. He’s leaned against Phil’s shoulder, and he’s holding Dan’s hand in his own. 

Dan flushes and sits up. “I’m sorry, how long was I out for?”

Phil looks at the large wall clock behind him. “It’s half past five now, about an hour I guess?” He lets go of Dan’s hand, grinning at him sheepishly. “You were trying to push me away when I went to wake you up.” 

Dan groans, stretching his limbs, making his back pop. Phil winces at the noise. 

“Sorry for falling asleep on you.” Dan feels incredibly embarrassed all of a sudden. 

Phil reaches out and brushes Dan’s fringe out of his eyes. His breath catches in his throat, Phil is so close to him he can count each individual eyelash. 

“Would you like to have breakfast with me, Dan?”

Dan is too busy looking at the little smile lines by his eyes. He wants to map them with him fingers.

“Hmm?”

“Breakfast, we can go somewhere else, or stay here I guess. If you want to.” 

Dan breaks into a big smile. “Yeah, I’d love that.” 

And he leans closer to Phil, close enough for his lips to barely brush his cheek. 

He leans back, his face burning. The smile Phil grants him warms his chest. “I’ll just pop to the back and set up some stuff, and then we can eat.” 

Dan nods. “Alright.”

Phil leans over quickly, tugs a strand of hair, and then ambles over to the back, tripping a little on his own feet, a pleased grin on his face.

Dan giggles to himself, smoothing his hair back. Maybe Halloween isn’t so bad after all, he thinks as he looks around at the empty cafe. He hears a loud crashing noise and a muffled swear, and he laughs out loud to himself. No, not bad at all.


End file.
